JESUS, THE GREAT ACCOMPLISHER Right here, there is a technical point to be made. It is necessitated by the spiritually juvenile and surface view that is often taken of the accomplishments of Christ's death. Although Peter refers specifically to what Jesus bore "in His body on the tree," many associate his words relating to that occasion to some of the sufferings He endured BEFORE being crucified. I refer specifically to the words expressed by Isaiah and confirmed by Peter. "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and WITH HIS STRIPES we are healed" (Isa 53:5). "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: BY WHOSE STRIPES WE WERE HEALED" (1 Pet 2:24). -- Tomorrow:
"And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." (Colossians 1:20-22)
Devotion 12 of 32
The position is espoused that these are the stripes related to the scourging Jesus received before His crucifixion – even though very little mention is made of it in the Gospels, and none specifically affirmed in the Epistles. It is written that Pilate "had Jesus scourged" (Matt 27:26; Mk 15:15; John 19:1). Prior to His betrayal, Jesus told His disciples that He would be scourged (Lk 18:33). Those who refer to "the thirty-nine stripes" with which, they say, we were healed, do not speak properly. The practice of beating with forty stripes save one was that of the Jews, not the Romans (2 Cor 11:24). It was in strict accord with the Law of Moses (Deut 25:2-3), not the law of the Romans.
I do not believe the postulate that we were healed by this scourging (of Pilate), delivered prior to our Lord's crucifixion, can be substantiated. Nor, indeed, does the Holy Spirit ever associate our redemption, atonement for sin, reconciliation to God, or the making of peace with that malicious and hateful deed.
When Zechariah prophesied of Jesus being "wounded" in the house of His "friends," and a consequent fountain being opened for sin and uncleanness, he affirmed IT WAS GOD who initiated the wounding. "Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones" (Zech 13:1,7).
The effectiveness of Christ's death is nowhere traced to what men did to Him. Those atrocities were endured by our blessed Lord, and pondering them produces sorrow in the sensitive of heart. However, no inspired man has ever called upon us to consider the death of Christ from a purely human point of view. The physical sufferings of Christ are NOT the point, even though they were stark realities. It is what GOD DID to Christ that is the real point, not what Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod did to Him! It is God Himself who "made Him to be sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21). It is God Himself who "laid upon Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa 53:6). It is God Himself who "made" Him "a curse for us" (Gal 3:13). It is God Himself who "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom 8:32). He was "the Lamb of God," not of Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, or the people (John 1:29,36). God is the one who delivered Him "for our offences" (Rom 4:25). The "affliction" through which peace was made CAME FROM GOD, not from men. Thus Isaiah prophesied, "yet we did esteem Him stricken, SMITTEN OF GOD, and afflicted" (Isa 53:4). God is the One who "wounded" Him, "bruised" Him, and "chastened" Him (Isa 53:5).
God did not take the scourging of Pilate and turn it into peace! He did not take the buffeting and spittle of men and convert it into peace. What happened to Jesus in the courts of men is not the basis of our reconciliation, nor was it intended to atone for our sins. That ought to be so apparent to us that no word need ever be said about it.
I realize this is disruptive to certain teachings that are extant in the professing church – but such teachings need to be disrupted! Jesus did not die because of sickness, because sickness does alienate us from God, and is nowhere said to do so. His death was not necessitated by illness, but by sin. The "stripes" by which we are healed resulted in our return "unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls," which Peter plainly affirms (1 Pet 2:25). All of that relates to peace being made through "the blood of His cross."
The Christian community needs to be more demanding about the truth being preached! The Lord is a God of truth, and sanctifies us through the truth (John 17:17). We are saved through the love of the truth (2 Thess 2:10). The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). God has spoken clearly, concisely, and extensively, about Christ's blood. It is our business to preach it.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and for the place where it was wrought.